Filaments of brown algae : problem in established tank

jjbunn wrote:
Here are some photos of the brown algae. These photos are not for the
faint of heart!

http://static.flickr.com/80/260382277_5b5f86d466_o.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/99/260382327_fc410b8aa0.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/98/260382207_9e730ae038.jpg

Julian




To me those photos look like you have some dinoflagetts growing in your
tank. They can be very bad since they can be toxic depending on the
species. Normally they are a sign of very high nutrients in the water,
not enough current, and possible bad lighting. The good thing is if it
is dino's, you can just leave the tank dark for about 2 days (will not
hurt your corals as long as they are semi healthy). After you turn the
lights back on though it can come back pretty quickly. I would suggest
tunning up your skimmer or upgrading it if possible, increasing water
movement (the pictures show the algae floating straight up) and
replacing light bulbs if they are old.

Kim gross
www.jensalt.com

Hi Kim,

Excellent input. I turned the powerheads off to take the photos, which
is why the strands are floating straight up.

I believe the lighting is good (the bulb is quite new) and the current
is very good.

My corals are certainly not as healthy as they were a few weeks ago,
but I am going to now turn the lights off for a couple of days and see
what happens.

Thanks again!

I'll report back.

Julian


kim gross wrote:
jjbunn wrote:
Here are some photos of the brown algae. These photos are not for the
faint of heart!

http://static.flickr.com/80/260382277_5b5f86d466_o.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/99/260382327_fc410b8aa0.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/98/260382207_9e730ae038.jpg

Julian




To me those photos look like you have some dinoflagetts growing in your
tank. They can be very bad since they can be toxic depending on the
species. Normally they are a sign of very high nutrients in the water,
not enough current, and possible bad lighting. The good thing is if it
is dino's, you can just leave the tank dark for about 2 days (will not
hurt your corals as long as they are semi healthy). After you turn the
lights back on though it can come back pretty quickly. I would suggest
tunning up your skimmer or upgrading it if possible, increasing water
movement (the pictures show the algae floating straight up) and
replacing light bulbs if they are old.

Kim gross
www.jensalt.com